Freshmen come up clutch for Eastern Alamance boys

Published: Thursday, February 28, 2013 at 01:30 AM.

When the freshman calmly stepped to the line, Eastern Alamance guard Lamont Robinson stepped to his left ear for words of advice.

“Junior came up to me and said, ‘Just like practice,’ and that’s what I did,” Lamot said.

On the ensuing possession, Southern Lee (15-11) tried to create an opportunity for Noah Mellette. Robinson followed across the 3-point line until he was blasted by a screen, giving Mellette a baseline look from behind the arc.

But Mann was there for the help.

“All they were doing was trying to get screens for him at the top of the key,” Mann said. “And finally it came over to my man and Junior, Junior got killed on (a screen) but. … He was shooting well all night so I had to get in his face.”

“I had so many screens on me, Jacob stepped up and blocked it. Help defense pays off,” Robinson said of the play.

After Mann blocked Mellette’s shot, Kedar Sweezer gathered the rebound. Sweezer was fouled, and the senior stepped to the line and iced the game with a pair of free throws with four seconds remaining.

MEBANE — After blowing a 10-point fourth-quarter lead and missing six free throws in the last six minutes, it looked like the Eastern Alamance boys’ basketball team might be headed for a devastating end to its season.

Instead, two of the youngest players came up with the biggest plays of the season to date.

Freshman John Lamot made the eventual game-winning free throws with 17 seconds left and classmate Jacob Mann blocked a 3-point attempt with about six seconds left to give host Eastern Alamance a 66-62 victory against Southern Lee in the second round of the Class 3-A state playoffs Wednesday night.

The Eagles (24-5) will advance to face host Fayetteville Westover on Friday night.

Lamot’s free throws came after he dove on a loose ball between two Southern Lee players — a situation that arose because he forced a turnover by Andrew Camiege. Lamot said he was only thinking about making amends for a few previous gaffes in the fourth quarter.

“Hard work, because earlier in the game I had three turnovers at the critical last couple minutes, so I had to make for that up,” Lamot said.

Lamot also said that because Southern Lee’s Jalen Jackson and Juwon Jackson — two of the primary ball handlers — had fouled out, he knew he could apply pressure to Camiege.

When the freshman calmly stepped to the line, Eastern Alamance guard Lamont Robinson stepped to his left ear for words of advice.

“Junior came up to me and said, ‘Just like practice,’ and that’s what I did,” Lamot said.

On the ensuing possession, Southern Lee (15-11) tried to create an opportunity for Noah Mellette. Robinson followed across the 3-point line until he was blasted by a screen, giving Mellette a baseline look from behind the arc.

But Mann was there for the help.

“All they were doing was trying to get screens for him at the top of the key,” Mann said. “And finally it came over to my man and Junior, Junior got killed on (a screen) but. … He was shooting well all night so I had to get in his face.”

“I had so many screens on me, Jacob stepped up and blocked it. Help defense pays off,” Robinson said of the play.

After Mann blocked Mellette’s shot, Kedar Sweezer gathered the rebound. Sweezer was fouled, and the senior stepped to the line and iced the game with a pair of free throws with four seconds remaining.

Robinson led the way with 25 points, matching Mellette’s 25 for Southern Lee. Malcolm Summers and Jayln Riley each scored 12 points for the Eagles.

Mellette single-handedly shot the Cavaliers back into the game, hitting four 3s in the fourth quarter and scoring 18 points in the last seven minutes.

Eastern Alamance couldn’t match the pace it set Monday night, when it drained 13 shots from 3-point range. But the Eagles adjusted in the second quarter and took a 31-25 lead into halftime and led by as many as 12 in the fourth quarter.

“We tried to get it in some, tried to drive some. We got some dribble penetration there and some dishes inside,” Eastern Alamance coach Jay McPherson said.

-- Mellette is the cousin of former Elon receiver Aaron Mellette, who was in the stands for Wednesday night’s game wearing a sweatshirt from the NFL Combine. Mellette returned to North Carolina on Tuesday night from Indianapolis.